We may think only mathematicians or economists or auditors
have to deal with numbers, but numbers are everywhere. They're
in beautiful patterns, they
are in the spiral of a mollusk, in the arrangement of seeds in a sunflower,
and beyond.

Though it may not be obvious at first glance, all of this week's words
have their origins in numbers.

decussate

PRONUNCIATION:

(verb: di-KUHS-ayt, DEK-uh-sayt, adjective: di-KUHS-ayt, -it)

MEANING:

verb tr.:
To intersect or to cross.

adjective:
1. Intersected or crossed in the form of an X.
2. Arranged in pairs along the stem, each pair at a right angle to the one
above or below.

ETYMOLOGY:

The word originated from Latin "as" (plural asses) which was a copper
coin and the monetary unit in ancient Rome. The word for ten asses was
decussis, from Latin decem (ten) + as (coin). Since ten is represented by X,
this spawned the verb decussare, meaning to divide in the form of an X or
intersect.

NOTES:

Samuel Johnson, lexicographer extraordinaire, has a well-deserved reputation
for his magnum opus "A Dictionary of the English Language", but as they say,
even Homer nods. He violated one of the dictums of lexicography -- do not
define a word using harder words than the one being defined -- when he used
today's word and two other uncommon words in defining the word network:

Network: Any thing reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with
interstices between the intersections.

And what is "reticulated"? Again, according to Johnson:

Reticulated: Made of network; formed with interstitial vacuities.

USAGE:

"How I wished then that my body, too, if it had to droop and shrivel, for
surely everyone's did, would furl and decussate with grace to sculpt the
victory of my spirit."
J. Nozipo Maraire; Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter; Delta; 1997.